Did Vanessa Williams resign or was she dethroned as Miss America?
She resigned. But it was more of a “forced resignation” The first African-American to win the Miss America title, Williams was forced to give up her crown ten months later when nude photos of her were sold to Penthouse. “… Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America 1984 on September 17, 1984. She was the first African-American Miss America and unfortunately she became the target of racist hate mail and death threats. This was only the beginning for Vanessa, as she would ultimately become the most controversial Miss America to date. An anonymous phone call to Williams tipped her off that nude photos she had previously taken in 1982 were being shopped around. She thought that the photos were destroyed and had never signed a release for the photos to be published. Tom Chiapel, the infamous photographer who took the pictures, shot Williams and another female girl on girl nude.
